Shaft-tug



H. F. BOCK.

(No Model.)

SHAFT TUG.

Patented Jan. 6, 1885.

a w wfil WITNESSES i ATTORNEYS.

Uwrren Srares PAT NT @rrrca HENRY FERDINAND BOOK, OF LANSING, ILLINOIS.

SHAFT-TUE SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 310,367, dated January 6, 1885.

Application filed June .25, 1894. (No model To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY I". Boos, of Lansing, in the county of Cook and, State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Shaft-Loop, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to the loops of harness for supporting the shafts or thills of vehicles; and the object of the invention is to lessen the labor of harnessing and nnharnessing the draft animal.

The invention consists in special constructions and combinations of parts of the fasten ing devices secured at the open ends or joint of the loop-straps, whereby I provide a simple, inexpensive, and durable shaft-loop, which may quickly be operated to secure or release the shafts without passing the ends of the shafts through theloop, all as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front longitudinal. sectional elevation of my improved shaft-loop. Fig. 2 is an edge View thereof, partly broken away and in sect-ion; and Fig. 8 shows a modification of the catch device.

The letter A indicates the shaft-loop, which consists, mainly, of, two leather straps, A A which are stitched together from the point a. just outside of the buckle B and around to the end at c, and so as to hold between the straps at the bottom of the closed shaft-loop the metal eye or frame 13, by which the under strap ol' the harness connects the two shaft-loops at the opposite sides of the horse. The buckle I suspends the shaft-1oop from the back-strap G of the saddle.

To secure the buckle to the loop A, I pass its lower or tongue cross-bar, I), within the curved upper end of a metal plate, d, which plate is an extension of the inner or base plate, D, of the lock or fastening D, which is held to the upper end of the shaftloop by rivets c, passing through the turned-over ends of the straps A A*, which inclose between them the plate d. The inner strap, A, holds the bucklebar I) to the plate (I, which plate takes the strain of supporting the thills off from the upper or outer strap, A", and insures the durability of theshaft-loop at thispoint. Asuitable washen plate, 0, is interposed between the heads of the rivets e and the strap A. The strap A, passed down along the inner face of the base-plate D, and rivets e, passing through the lower end, (1, of the base-plate, secure the block D at this point, and the strap A passes over from the buckle B and down about to the tlangezlflwhich extends outward from the base-plate D and forms the top of a recess, E, in which the catch of the lock is pivoted, as hereinafter described.

G is the backstrap loop,which is made, preferabl y, ofleather, and rests by the edge of its in ner side, on top of the flange d and between the extension-plate d and the inner face of the turned-over end of the strap A", and D is the outside plate or cover of the fastening D, which lies flat against the outer face of the turnedovcr end of the strap A", and the same rivets 0 thus serve to bind together the straps A A the loop G, and the base and cover plates D I) of the fastening D. instead of the rivets c, if desired.

At one side of the base-plate D of the fastening D the metal of the plate increases in thickness to form a strong bar, H, along one side of the fastening, and this bar extends below the end of the main body of the fastening, and has an extension piece or arm, I, which passes transversely across the fastening, and at such distance from its lower end and the face of the end d of the baseplate D as to leave room for the passage over the arm I of the eye J, which is held to the end a of the shaft-loop, and between the straps A A by the passage of rivets j through the straps and a tang, J, of the eye J, interposed between the straps.

In the recess E of the fastening D, I pivot on a pin, 7c, the catch K, which has atooth or point, 7;, adapted to pass down into a notch, i, made in the upper face of the arm I and in front of the eye J, as in Fig. 2. the upper side of the eye J next to the point i It of the catch is slightly out under, as at in,

so that any tendency of the eye to slip off from the arm I will act the more surely to seat the end or point k of the catch firmly into the re Screws may be used The edge of 95 cess i of the arm. A spring, L, interposed between the catch K and flange cl, presses the catch against the arm I, and the catch has a tongue, in, by which to lift it prior to slipping the eye J onto or off from the arm.

In harnessing the animal to the vehicle, instead of running the shaft-1oops onto the shafts from the ends of the shafts, it only is necessary to pass the ends a of the shaft-loops A below the shafts to enter the shafts within the loops, whereupon the catches K are raised. The eyes J are then passed onto the arms I, and the catches let go to lock on the arms in front of the eyes, and thereby hold the thills securely to place. In unharnessing, the catches K are raised, and the eyes J are slipped from the arms I, when the thills will be free.

In Fig. 3 I have represented a modified form of catch, as at K, which, instead of being pivoted, as is the catch K in Figs. 1 and 2, is litted to slide in a'box or casing, E, and is forced outward by a spring, L, to engage its end or tooth It with the notch 2' of the arm I of. the fastening I). The spring L isheld at one end in a recess, Z, of the catch, which has a projecting finger-lift, l to raise the catch by when the eye J of the loop is to be passed onto or off from the arm I of the fastening, as will readily be understood.

I am aware that a hinged or open tug for vehicle thills or shafts is not broadly new.

Having thus described myinvention, Iclaim as new-and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. The combination, in the shaft-loop A, of the eye J, the transverse arm I, the catch having a tooth, k, engaging a notch z of the arm, and a spring acting to force the catch against the arm, substantially as shown and described.

2. A shaft-loop constructed with the strap A A the buckle B, the fastening I), having an arm, I, and spring-catch, and the eye J and loop G, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a shaftdoop, the fastening D, formed with its base-plate extended at d, for the purpose described, and with the flange d at right angles thereto, said flange forming the top of the recess containing-the catch of the fastening, substantially as set forth.

HENRY FERDINAND BOOK. \Vitnesscs JOHN BENZ, Josnr PrULLIPs. 

